Making a difference for God

 

COLERAINE INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 30 JUNE 2024 pm – MR DENIS LYLE

1 CHRONICLES 4 VERSES 9 AND 10

JABEZ – MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR GOD

 

“And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.  And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed and enlarge my coast and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.”

 

In 1873 while he was in the city of Dublin D L Moody heard Henry Varley make a statement that changed his life.  He was attending an all night prayer meeting.  This was the statement “The world has yet to see what God could do with a man fully consecrated to him.”  As Moody crossed the wide Atlantic, the boards of the deck of the vessel were engraved with these words and when he reached Chicago, the very paving stones seemed marked with them.  Moody resolved in his heart to be that man.  The ramifications of such a decision were felt not only in America but in Great Britain as a whole.

 

Do you want to live an ordinary or an extraordinary life?  Jesus himself said “I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”  God wants to make a difference in your life so that you can make a difference for him in the lives of those around you.  Jabez’s story has less than 80 words in our English language.  He went from the ordinary to the extraordinary.  He learned how to become the cream of the crop.  “He was more honourable than his brethren.”  When you come to genealogies in the bible what do you do?  The number of genealogies in these chapters alone are like a Hebrew telephone directory.  Did you know that the last book of the Hebrew bible is actually Chronicles?  Chronicles are actually a record of events. These are a record of events during the period after the exile.  Jabez was living in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.  Cyrus issued the decree to go back to the city of Jerusalem and rebuild the city walls.  Fifty thousand people responded.  These days are the last days of the Old Testament.  Jabez is a gem among these genealogies. Why?  So that the people might be given an encouragement to the despirited exiles.  Jabez name means pain or suffering can change to blessing.  God answers with a promise.  God dispels our loneliness.  He conquers our enemies.  In the first 4 chapters there are 500 names recorded.  Previously none are mentioned in relation to prayer. Others were consumed with gold and greed but Jabez was consumed with God.  He was more honourable than his brethren.  He was bringing glory to someone not himself.  He chose to honour God.  He chose to become a channel of blessing to others.  He was prepared to give his best, be the best and do the best for God  Jabez despised the ordinary and seek the extraordinary.

 

Someone once said there are three persons in each of us - the person you are right now, the person you could be if Satan had his way and the person you could be if you allowed God to work in you.  William Carey said “O God help me to be the man you want me to be.”

 

Firstly, his passion for God.  Have you a passion for God?  A thirst for God?  “My soul thirsteth for God, thirsteth for the living God.”  Can you see the intensity of this man’s passion?  He comes into the Lord's presence and prays “Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed”.   He wanted to be all he could be for God and he wanted to have all that he could have for God.  His desire, his goal, his aspiration, his ambition was to be blessed indeed.  The word literally means “to call out loudly.”  He wanted God’s full attention.  There is a word used here is never used in relation to anyone else – “indeed”.  In the Hebrew language that would be like adding 5 exclamation points – requesting in bold letters, in capital letters and underlining it in italics.  “God I want the best you have, I am happy with what I have but if you have something more I want you to give it to me.”  What does it mean to ask for blessing?  We could say it in a lazy - bless the children, bless the church, bless the minister, bless the food. We say it rather than being specific.  600 times in the Old Testament the word blessing is used.  It means to ask God for supernatural favour.  When asking for God’s favour we are asking for the goodness of God.  Only he has the blessing. It is the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich and addeth no sorrow with it.  It has 3 characteristics - it comes from God to glorify him, it comes to you for your good and it is channelled through you for the good of others.  “I don’t want false, fake or inferior blessing, I want it to come from God and I want it to be channelled through me for the good of others.". God blesses us that we might be a blessing to others.  Is this your desire tonight?  “Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed.”  The desire that consumed him. The difficulties that confronted him.  His name suggests that his mother endured pain or sorrow in his birth.  “He who causes me pain. “ What was his mother thinking of when she named him this?  Maybe she had a hard time delivering him. Maybe he was born with some handicap. It may be his brothers had a bad reputation and he wanted to be better.  He wanted to rise above his circumstances and become a blessing to others.  God can take our disadvantages and use them for his advantage.  God can take our liabilities and use them to magnify his ability.  Our handicaps need not harm us, need not hurt us for our progress with the Lord. He can use for his blessing and glory. G Campbell Morgan preached a trial sermon in 1888. at a large Methodist church. He received word that they were not even considering him for the pastorate. He felt totally humiliated and rejected. He sent his father home a message with one word “rejected”.  His father returned with the message “rejected on earth but accepted in heaven. “ He became one of the greatest bible expositors the world has ever known. Maybe you are saying God could never bless me or use me.

 

On 4 July 1952 Florence Chadwick attempted to swim the 2 miles between Catalina Island and the California coastline.  Fog was so thick that she couldn’t see the boats in her party. Sharks had to be driven away. She swam for 15 hours and was only one mile from the shore. Her trainer encouraged her to keep on going but she quit – not because of the darkness, nor the cold, nor the fear of sharks but because of the fog.  2 months later she completed the swim and set a new speed record – why – because she could see the land.  Can you only see the fog? Are you looking at your inability rather than God’s ability?  Are you looking at what you cannot do rather than looking at what God says you can do? Look at the land tonight. Look at the person of God, look at the promises of God.  Look at the power of God.. Look at the purposes of God. Don’t settle for anything less.  Ask God to bless you.  “Oh that thou wouldest richly bless me”  Not a spiritual shower or two but something special.  Is this passion personal?  Is this passion corporately?  When others settle for the ordinary may we seek the extraordinary passion for God.   Our praying is too small.  Our expectations are too limited.

 

His prayer to God.  R A Torrey said “there is only one limit to what prayer can do and that is what God can do.”  Here is a man who discovered that prayer is the key that opens up the wide inexhaustible riches of God.  Jabez wanted great and mighty things from God.  It was not a willy nilly prayer.  What are you asking God for tonight?  He asked for 3 things – a.greater place to serve in growth - “enlarge my coasts”.  In that day a person’s border would mark his territory, the limit of his influence.  He was asking God to give him greater responsibilities.  More influence, more opportunities to do something for God.  He wants God to expand his opportunities for service.  The Christian life begins with a narrow way but soon broadens out into the fuller life.  What life would Peter have had if he settled around the Lake of Galilee?  It would have been quite a tranquil existence.  Then one day he met the Lord who said “follow me”.  That meant enlargement.  There are some Christians who are afraid to grow.  When a baby is born the baby has everything it needs to be an adult.  Everything is there for it to grow.  Growth is a difficult thing – some get to a stage where they don’t want to grow any more.  The consequences of growth are – the more faithful you are the more God will bless you.  The more God blesses you the more enlargement there is. The more enlargement there is the more work there is to do.  He will bless your faithfulness in little things.  “Oh God give me greater usefulness. “ Hudson Taylor.  Have you ever wondered why a pastor leaves a small church to go to a big church?  God takes a man from a small church so that the gift the man has can be used to its very maximum.  So many Christians are looking forward to retirement because they will have less to do.  Jabez was looking to do more for God.  He wasn’t looking to slow down but rather to speed up. Have you become complacent as a Christian, as a church?  Satisfied with the comfort zone? Are you growing like you should?  What about your work for the Lord?  Do you want the Lord to use you but also increase you?  Secondly, a greater power to serve with. Jabez wanted guidance – “that thine hand might be with me.”  He needed greater power than he had to possess new land for God. God's hand represents God’s mighty power.  When God wants to get something done he gets his hand on you.  Remember we are living in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.  Ezra said “I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me. “ Nehemiah told them of the hand of God which was good upon me.   John the Baptist moved the nation of Israel because the hand of the Lord was upon him.  This is what Jabez wanted. Push me, uphold me, sustain me, help me. The blesser is more important than the blessing. When you start to seek God for his blessing, you have got to see God in the blessing otherwise you will not be able to handle the blessing God gives.  Jabez realized that if God blesses me, if God enlarges me and gives me more responsibilities then God’s hand must be upon my life, otherwise I cannot handle it.

 

2 ladies were praying for Mr Moody and they told him but he was angry.  Then he joined with them in the place of prayer.  One day while walking down Wall Street in New York he described it in his own words.  “One day in New York, I cannot describe it, I am almost too sacred to mention it, I can only say that God drew near and I had to ask him to stay his hand."  His preaching was no different in content but now hundreds were being converted.  Moody said “I would not go back to where I was before that blessed experience. “  Is that not what we need to have – to have God’s hand upon us in power.  There are 2 references in the bible to hand – one is God’s closed hand in reference to God’s displeasure. The other is in reference to God’s open hand in reference to his delight.  The word here conveys to us the open hand of delight.  God’s hand of power would not be withheld.  It must be unleashed immediately.  Jabez knew about the history of God’s people Israel.  He knew what God had done in the past.  His hand of redemption bringing them out of Egypt, guiding them through the wilderness, providing manna in the wilderness and protecting from their enemies.  Jabez says “I want your open hand of past history to become your open hand of present history” The third request was a greater protection to serve by, that’s guardianship  – “that you would keep me from evil.”  The more you do for the Lord and the more God does through you and the more ambition you have, the more you are being set up for the devil to trap you and trip and tempt you.  This shows how mature Jabez was.  “Lord, bless me, enlarge me, empower me, will you keep me humble and holy. Remember Jesus said “forgive us our sins as we forgive others.  Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”  Have you ever committed the same sin 10 times, 100 times and a 1000 times?  Why is that? We keep sinning and come back to the Lord “forgive me, I’ve messed up again.”  Thank God he does forgive us. He told us to pray “lead us from evil” – Why – we need protection from sin.

 

Coach Jordan said to Mike who played for the Miami Dolphins “I want you to go out into the country and do some scouting for me  “Sure what kind of man would you want?”  He replied “when a man gets knocked down and he does not get up again, do we want that sort of man? "  “Of course not.”  “Do we want a man who gets knocked down and gets up, then he goes down again and gets up but when he gets knocked down a third time he doesn’t get up – do we want a man like that?”  “No of course not.”  Eventually the coach asked him “do we want a man who will get up every time no matter how many times he is knocked down.”  “Yes that’s the kind of man we want, isn’t it? “ “No Mike we want a man that is always doing the knocking down. “ There are times when we get knocked down and the Lord picks us up every time but sometimes he wants us to do some knocking down.  That is why Jabez prayed that the Lord would keep him, keep him from evil communication, evil speaking, an evil heart.  Samson was intended to be an extraordinary man then Delilah came along and cut off his locks.  He lost his strength, his sight and his service.  You can see him grinding out the corn.  She took his supernatural strength and made him like one of the boys.  When you measure your praying by this man’s prayer how do you feel?  It is not a long prayer.  But prayer is not measured by it’s length but by strength.

 

The final phase “And God granted him that which he requested.”  His passion for God, his prayer to God and now his prosperity from God.  And God granted him what he requested.  The word “granted” is only mentioned 15 times in the bible.  He not only gives it but with great satisfaction, with great delight. He not only hears this kind of prayer but God honours this kind of prayer.  God enriched Jabez and God enlarged Jabez and God empowered Jabez and God encompasses Jabez.  God wants to bless you.  He wants to bless his church.  What do you want God to do in your life?  In the life of this church?  God says “call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which they knowest not.” God wants you to give more than the crumbs.  He wants to bless you indeed.  The measure of this blessing.  The motive for this blessing.  God is sympathetic to the holy ambition when it is his glory rather than our glory is the real motive. This was not a selfish prayer. It is important to understand he didn’t want more so that he could have more but wanted to have more so he could do more.  He wanted not to get but to give more.  An old Puritan prayer “I am only an old rag but I have been soaking in your word.  Now take me and squeeze me that someone else might get the blessing.”  “All in Christ by the Holy Spirit for the glory of God."  The glory of God.  What about your motives in praying, in giving, in serving, in witnessing?  Is God's glory your chief concern?  Not the glory of the church, not the glory of Ulster but God’s glory.  God delighted to honour Jabez because Jabez delighted to honour God.  He made a difference for God in his day and age.  He was the very cream of the crop.

 

Do you want to live an ordinary life on the level of mediocrity, complacency, apathy or do you want to live like Jabez? To live an extraordinary life. Soaring above the level of the average, making a difference for God? Are you prepared to move out of your comfort zone.  Are you prepared to become dissatisfied with the status quo? Great not in the eyes of man but in God’s eyes.  Noel Grant says “Go through God, thy vows to pay, thine all upon the altar lay.  The Holy Ghost will do the rest and bring to thee God’s very best.”  Jabez, making a difference for God – is that your desire?